1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to part information restoration methods, part information management methods and electronic apparatuses, and more particularly to a part information restoration method for automatically restoring information, such as information unique to a part, which is stored in a storage part of the part when replacing the part, a part information management method, and an electronic apparatus which employs such a part information restoration method or part information management method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic apparatuses, such as computer systems, telephone sets, facsimile apparatuses and copying apparatuses, have replaceable parts that are provided with a nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory of such a part stores information unique to the part, such as a serial number, and in some cases, stores information customized according to a user or a setup environment of the electronic apparatus, log information and the like.
For example, in the case of a computer system provided with a plurality of boards, when replacing one board for maintenance purposes or the like, the device number unique to the device, such as the serial number, which is stored in the nonvolatile memory of this one board is saved in a storage part of the computer system. After a new board is set in the computer system, the device number saved in the storage part is stored in the nonvolatile memory of this new board. Such a maintenance operation for restoring the information unique to the device is also carried out when a board is removed from the computer system and repaired, and the repaired board is again set in the computer system.
In addition, in the case where the nonvolatile memory of the board stores the information customized according to the user or the setup environment of the electronic apparatus, the log information and the like, such information is similarly saved in the storage part of the computer system when the board is replaced. After the new board or the repaired board is set in the computer system, the saved information in the storage part of the computer system is stored in the nonvolatile memory of the new or repaired board which is set in the computer system. Such a maintenance operation is required to restore the information stored in the board that is replaced or repaired.
If the maintenance operation is not carried out correctly or, at least a portion of the maintenance operation is not carried out, the computer system cannot be restored back to its original state after the new or repaired board is set in the computer system. In order to restore the computer system back to its original state, it is necessary to manually input the information, such as the information unique to the new or repaired board, and store the information in the nonvolatile memory of the new or repaired board.
It is conceivable to remove a nonvolatile memory chip from the board that is replaced, and to mount the removed nonvolatile memory chip on the board that is set in the computer system. But this conceivable method is undesirable in that there is a high possibility of damaging pins of the nonvolatile memory chip and damaging the nonvolatile memory chip itself when removing the nonvolatile memory chip from and mounting the removed nonvolatile memory chip on the board. Moreover, it is undesirable to remove the nonvolatile memory chip from the board and to mount the removed nonvolatile memory chip on the board at the setup location of the computer system, because there is a possibility of damaging other parts of the board.
A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-196227 a proposes a method of detecting whether or not a board of an electronic equipment system is replaced, by detecting whether or not information within a storage element which is provided on the board is erased. A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-322333 proposes a method of automatically restoring device information unique to the device, which is saved in a save area, into a memory provided on a board of a computer system, when an erasure of the device information within the memory is detected.
Conventionally, the maintenance operation for saving the information stored in the nonvolatile memory of the part, such as a board, when replacing the part, and for restoring the information within the nonvolatile memory after replacing the part by storing the saved information in the nonvolatile memory of the replaced part, is extremely troublesome to carry out. Hence, there was a problem in that the larger the amount of information to be stored in the nonvolatile memory, the longer it takes for the maintenance operation to be carried out.
On the other hand, when the nonvolatile memory of the part stores the information, the information may include specific information which should not leak to a third party. Conventionally, such specific information is also saved in the storage part of the computer system, and an unauthorized copy of such specific information may be made. Furthermore, because the nonvolatile memory of the part, such as the board, which is removed from the computer system for replacement, also stores such specific information, an unauthorized copy of such specific information may be made. In a case where the specific information is a license code which enables the user to use the part such as the board, for example, there was a problem in that unauthorized copies of the license code may be made to create so-called clone boards.